Meet the Team
Our Research & Innovation (R&I) leadership team spearheads our commitment to GMMH’s strategic priorities, inclusing to ensure our staff, service users and carers have every opportunity to take part in and benefit from research and innovation.
Together, they exemplify a wealth of skills, experience and knowledge and have become pillars of direction and motivation to deliver the Trust's research & innovation strategic objectives.
Professor Filippo Varese
Associate Director Research & Innovation
Filippo is Associate Director for Research & Innovation at Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) NHS Foundation Trust, a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Manchester and the Director of the Complex Trauma and Resilience Research Unit (C-TRU), a collaborative research initiative between GMMH and the University of Manchester.
He has worked at the University of Manchester since 2015, collaborating closely with GMMH on a diverse research programme on trauma, psychosis and other severe mental health problems. Filippo has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles on psychological approaches to understanding and treating severe mental health problems, and the use of trauma-informed and trauma-specific interventions in a range of settings.
His research has made seminal contributions to understanding how traumatic experiences influence mental health, and he has led several NIHR-funded trials evaluating innovative psychological interventions. As Associate Director, he plays a key role in delivering GMMH's research strategy and fostering collaborations between academic researchers and clinical services.
Dr Lisa Newson
Associate Director Research & Innovation
Lisa Newson is Associate Director for Research & Innovation at Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) NHS Foundation Trust and a Reader (Associate Professor) in Applied Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine at Liverpool John Moores University.
Dr. Newson is a HCPC-Registered Practitioner Psychologist (Health) with extensive experience in applied health psychology, spanning academia, clinical practice, and public health. Dr. Newson specialises in translating research into practice to improve healthcare outcomes, leveraging her expertise in knowledge exchange, applied research, and engaged scholarship.
Her work has influenced health policies and strategies worldwide, advanced the field of health psychology, and fostered interdisciplinary collaboration to drive impactful changes in healthcare practices. With a background in NHS clinical practice, public health commissioning, and academic-health collaborations, she excels at bridging the gap between academia and healthcare to drive real-world impact.
Natalie Garratt
Head of Research & Innovation
Natalie Garratt is the Head of Research and Innovation at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH).
She has twenty years of experience working in the health and care sector, both in NHS Trusts across the North of England, charities and for the National Institute of Health and Care Research.
Natalie provides operational leadership to the Research & Innovation team, supporting the setting up and delivery of leading studies and trials that change and improve how we care for our service users and their loved ones. She also engages with our clinical services to ensure we share knowledge and experience, and works with our external university, academic and commercial partners.
Professor Damien Longson
Associate Director Research & Innovation
Damien Longson is an Associate Director for Research and Innovation at Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) NHS Foundation Trust. He is an experienced consultant with a demonstrated history of working in liaison psychiatry, emergency and general psychiatry.
Damien currently leads on the Trust’s portfolio of commercial trials. He has experience as a national lead investigator, commercial trial and NIHR principle investigator as well as grant collaborator. His own research background is in the role of glutamate in schizophrenia, and latterly in self-harm, traumatic brain injury and OCD. Damien's diverse experience includes medical education, managing doctors in difficulty, managing regulatory challenges, and human factors. Damien has also served as the chair of several NICE guidelines and Quality Standards.
John Sainsbury
Innovation Manager
John manages projects involving the adoption and evaluation of digital therapeutics either through research or real-world implementation. He is driving forward the R&I strategic objective to make better use of patient data for research and innovation.
He also offers training and coaching on the use of innovative thinking approaches to complex problems and the generation of innovative solutions and oversees the Research and Innovation Communications Team.
Joanna Bryant
Research Support Service Manager
Jo ensures that the Research Office has the appropriate processes and systems in place to support regulatory compliance and financial management responsibilities for the whole Trust portfolio of research. Jo also oversees the admin team which supports the Research Units within R&I.
Sophie Faulkner
Clinical Research Delivery Manager
Sophie is an Occupational Therapist. She leads the Research Delivery Team in ensuring clinical research projects within GMMH are carried out in a safe, efficient, and targeted manner. Sophie has an interest in developing research capacity and she manages the Research Interested Clinical Staff (RICS) group at GMMH.
Our research support staff
Our Research Office staff support the day-to-day workings of our department at GMMH. From supporting funding applications, to communications support, and to ensuring that all safety and ethical procedures have been followed, the team works tirelessly to make sure that research studies run smoothly in our Trust.
Our Research Delivery teams support researchers in identifying potential participants and embed themselves in services across the Trust. As clinical research practitioners, they also have a diverse range of research and healthcare skills to help deliver surveys and take samples, ensuring that research is performed to the highest standards.
Our research units
At GMMH, we have established ten Research Units focussing on important research themes, making sure our research matters and that we continue to address important issues in our fields. Learn about our research units here.
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